APEC Summit Chef Has Form of Hepatitis
A hotel chef who cooked for President Clinton and foreign leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last week found out later that he has a form of hepatitis, health officials said.
Seattle-King County Public Health Department officials said the risk that the illness would spread appeared slight.
Dr. Russell Alexander said the chef worked exclusively with foods cooked at high temperatures and had excellent hygiene, conditions which reduce the risk of transmission.
The cook had been suffering from flu-like symptoms. He went to a doctor and on Wednesday was found to have hepatitis A, Alexander said.
Hepatitis A is contagious and can be transmitted through food or water contaminated by the virus. But it is the least serious form of the liver disease.
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